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DARTMOUTH, Mass. – UMass Boston strung together a late push to break the tie in the final three minutes, holding on to defeat the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball squad 72-68 in Little East Conference competition on Wednesday.

For the Beacons, freshman Michael Boyd (Malden, Mass.) led all scorers with 24 points, with Charles Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) totaling 17 as the duo led a balanced scoresheet for the visitors.

Ashworth drained his first two shots after the Corsairs won the tip, hitting a three-pointer and then a mid-range jumper in the opening minutes. UMass Dartmouth was able to stretch their lead to as much as seven on a pair of occasions, but were able to take a one-point advantage into the break behind the efforts of visiting freshman Boyd, who poured in 11 points in 17 minutes.

Approximately five minutes into the second half, each team found themselves over the foul limit, resulting in a combined 35 free-throw attempts. Despite the consistent shooting by the hosts, UMass Boston kept the scoring close via the outside shooting of Boyd and multiple finishes under the rim by Mitchell.

Shortly after junior Arinze Obiora (Lagos, Nigeria) had fouled out, the Beacons made a handful of crucial defensive stops inside the two-minute mark, firstly with a key block by senior James Hawkins Jr. (West Medford, Mass.) in the post to preserve the one-point lead. While Corsair sophomore Brandon Williams Jr. (Dorchester, Mass.) was able to find a seam in the defense for a layup off the feed from Imadiyi with 1:05 left, the hosts missed two 3-pointers in the final 11 seconds in the squad's effort to tie the game to potentially force overtime.

Inside the Numbers

UMass Dartmouth held the slight advantage on the boards, outmuscling the Beacons by a margin of 37-34.

Ultimately, the Beacons narrowly outshot the hosts in the second half to hold the final edge, converting on 15-of-31 (48 percent) to UMass Dartmouth's 11-of-26 (42 percent).

UMass Boston has now claimed two-straight meetings between the intra-state rivals. The Beacons prevailed 78-77 last Feb. 15 to snap a four-game skid to the Corsairs.

Up Next

UMass Dartmouth remains home to square off against Plymouth State on Saturday at 3 p.m. UMass Boston will host Keene with a slightly later start time that day, tipping-off at 3:30 p.m.